Info on Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island

We recommend:
- Not staying in Halong City - it is not an interesting town. We wish we had gone directly to Cat Ba Island and took the Halong Bay cruise from there.
- Taking the official tour even if it is less convenient. We booked with a tout and basically got a ferry to Cat Ba with only a few stops in the bay.
- Definitely NOT the 2 or 3 days cruise on the boat. We had reports that the food is bad, the boat is dull after sundown and when at Cat Ba, they were booked in a very bad hotel far from the city center.
- Cat Ba's Bamboo Cafe. It is a bit of the same food everywhere, but Bamboo Cafe was the best from afar and the staff was very nice.
- Cat Co 2 is a nicer beach than Cat Co 1 and less busy, but once there it's pretty obvious.
- We stayed at the Noble House, it was a cute place, with Wifi in the rooms, but perhaps a bit pricey $20/night. They have a climbing, trekking club. We were interested by going rock climbing, but the owners of the climbing operation didn't really sell us on it, so we didn't go. Perhaps you will have a different experience.